


like something in your teeth

by amsves



Category: Log Horizon
Genre: Balcony Scene, Blushing, Dialogue Heavy, Episode: s02e22 Alien, Extended Scene, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Moonlight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-23
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 04:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17891465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amsves/pseuds/amsves
Summary: Akatsuki and Shiroe have a conversation on the balcony.





	like something in your teeth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MemoryMonkey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MemoryMonkey/gifts).



> Dedicated to @MemoryMonkey, because of their wonderful comment on 'lay all your love on me'! I agree, we need more of this ship. Hence, this. This has been on my to-write list since I first watched this scene oh so long ago, and then I heard [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuWq4RZnc6U) song, and the story just wrote itself. Honestly, the entire song had such wonderful, dreamy lyrics, and I'm still singing it hours later.
> 
> Anyways, Enjoy!

The lawn chair on the balcony was cold. Shiroe exhaled and raised his eyes to the moon, half-full in the nearly cloudless sky.  _ Kanami, I sure could use your help. _

He smiled.  _ I guess I shouldn’t complain. I was better off than most people. I ran into some friends right away when I got here.  _ “I’m pretty lucky to have both Naotsugu and Akatsuki around.”

And then there was Akatsuki, right in front of him. “Feel free to thank me in person. I’m right here.”

Shiroe flinched. “When did you get here?”

“Don’t worry about it. I was doing some ninja stuff.”

“You’re really getting this ninja thing down,” Shiroe said exasperatedly, and Akatsuki preened. 

“I’m glad you noticed, my Lord!” She hopped down off the balcony railing. “So, tell me. What seems to be troubling you now?” Shiroe leaned back as Akatsuki leaned forward, tapping the space between her eyebrows. “I’ve told you before, when something is bothering you, your forehead gets all wrinkly, like you’re an old man.”

Shiroe touched the same spot on his own face. “Oh, it does?”

“I wouldn’t lie to you!”

“I didn’t say that!” Shiroe let out a deep breath. “Truth be told, there is something bothering me, I guess. Or, it’s more accurate to say, there are a lot of little things. Nothing worth worrying over, though.”

Akatsuki crossed her arms. “If they weren’t worth worrying about, then you wouldn’t be wrinkly, my Lord.”

Shiroe chuckled. “Fair enough.” 

The silence was tense, yet strangely not uncomfortable. Shiroe leaned back in the lawn chair and stared up at the moon. “Thank you.” 

“My Lord?”

“You said to thank you in person.” Shiroe could feel his face heating up. “Thank you … for being at my side all this time.”

“My Lord … I was only joking. There was no need to thank me for something I wanted to do.”

“Is this  _ really _ what you wanted?”

“With all my heart,” Akatsuki asserted, and Shiroe couldn’t fight the grin stretching across his cheeks. 

“Hearing you say that … it makes me happy.” Shiroe turned his head to face the assassin girl next to him. “It’s … what I wanted as well. For you to be by my side in this strange new world.”

Akatsuki leaned down and engulfed Shiroe in a hug. He froze for a second, before hesitantly wrapping his arms around her slender frame. 

“Never doubt my devotion, my Lord,” Akatsuki whispered. “You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.”

“It’s a good thing I’ll never try, then,” Shiroe returned. He glanced up. “The moon sure is beautiful tonight, isn’t it?”

Akatsuki’s grip tightened on Shiroe’s forearm. He came to a realization.  _ Since Akatsuki’s hugging me while I’m sitting down, she’s basically on top of me … _

Akatsuki seemed to come to the same conclusion. She released Shiroe from her hug and perched lightly on the edge of his chair. He moved over slightly to allow her some more room, and she leaned against his side with a smile. “Thanks.”

“N-no problem. Although, this chair isn’t really made to seat two,” Shiroe added, moving to stand up, “So if you want to sit, I can--”

Akatsuki grabbed his sleeve. “Stay.”

“Uh--”

Her voice was serious as she said, very quietly, “I want to be around you, my Lord.”

Shiroe nodded, and slowly returned to his seat on the chair. “I’ll stay, then.”

“And you’ll tell me what’s worrying you.”

Shiroe sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Well, you were there at the Round Table meeting, so you know about the Geniuses. But there’s also this business with Roe2, and the economic disparity, and the political tensions, and this, and that, and the list just never seems to get any shorter no matter how hard I work.” He smiled wryly. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to dump all this on you.”

“I asked, remember?” Akatsuki dug her elbow lightly into Shiroe’s side. “...I like hearing about what’s on your mind.”

“That’s surprising.”

“Why should it be?” Akatsuki turned and switched to a kneeling position to gaze into her Lord’s eyes. “Why shouldn’t I be interested in hearing what you have to say? You’re  _ amazing _ , my Lord, but I don’t think that you’ll ever understand that, no matter how often people say it.” She placed her finger in the space between his eyebrows, where she claimed he got all wrinkly like an old man. “For someone so astounding, you can be exorbitantly  _ dumb _ .”

“Hey,” Shiroe protested lightly, “Everyone has their weaknesses.”

Akatsuki made an assenting noise in her throat, but made no move to leave her newfound position, one knee between Shiroe’s legs. She did, however, remove her finger from his forehead, tracing the slope of his nose down to the tip before switching to gliding her thumb lightly over his cheekbones. The other hand rested lightly on Shiroe’s shoulder.

Backlit by the bright moonlight, concern and admiration shining in her eyes, Akatsuki was a vision. Shiroe never wanted to look at anything else. “Did I ever tell you that I like this outfit on you?”

Akatsuki took her hand from Shiroe’s face to clutch the fabric of her orange top. “Thank you, my Lord.” She smiled. “Hearing you say that … it makes me happy.”

Looking back, neither could say who started it. All Shiroe knew was that suddenly his lips were touching Akatsuki’s. Kissing _.  _ He was kissing Akatsuki. His hands were curled around her biceps, while hers were digging into his shoulders. 

It was strange, leaning upwards to kiss a girl who was normally half his height standing. But it wasn’t bad. On the contrary, Shiroe thought, it was very, very good.

They pulled away slowly, and Shiroe took a moment to study the beauty in front of him. Akatsuki’s face was flushed, and he was sure his was as well. She looked hesitant, almost ashamed, like she couldn’t believe she’d forgotten her station. Shiroe brought a hand up to cup her chin and bring her back down.

“Hey, Shiroe! I finally found you!” Naotsugu popped out onto the balcony, and Shiroe froze. Akatsuki bolted upright, jumping off the chair as fast as she could. 

“My naughty radar’s going off!” Tetora cooed as she appeared on the scene. “Is this a midnight tryst?”

Technically, it wasn’t, because a tryst implied a designated time and place for a rendezvous, but Shiroe knew that it wouldn’t look good if he tried to explain this away on a technicality. Thankfully, Tetora and Naotsugu prattled on about strategy meetings, and the moment passed.

Shiroe glanced at Akatsuki. She was watching Tetora with an annoyed look on her face. Shiroe thought she’d never looked better. 

They could talk about what had happened later. 

**Author's Note:**

> Title is a lyric from the song linked above, "Do you ever get that fear that you can't shift the type / That sticks around like summat in your teeth?" Basically, it's about things sticking with you (worries, people, etc) so even though it's not the most romantic mental image I couldn't NOT 
> 
> Find me on [Tumblr](http://www.skeletoncloset.tumblr.com)


End file.
